Enchanted Forest Gathering, a NorCal boutique festival happening July 22-24 in Laytonville, CA, has announced that they will have Emerald Pharms, a medical cannabis dispensary and resource center, vending at the event for the first time this year. In its sixth year, Enchanted Forest is well-known for offering other alternatives to stimulation besides alcohol, so this comes as no surprise. They will be the first venue to allow this.
For Enchanted Forest, offering medical marijuana for sale at the festival will be a growing conscious movement across the country, as many festivals are shifting to embrace more natural forms of healing and focusing on the creation of events that offer exploration and opportunities for individual growth. Emerald Pharms, a local Mendocino company, fits right into this, as their intention is to advocate and promote holistic practices of vitality through access to cannabis. They aim to help inspire healthy lifestyle choices and the usage of marijuana as a form of herbal and energetic healing.
This move by Enchanted Forest opens the door to a larger conversation: the selling of medical, legal drugs at festivals and, with it, the need for responsible usage of those drugs.  As Enchanted Forest is an alcohol-free event, they focus on creating opportunities to try other forms of stimulation responsibly. It is important to consider that alcohol, too, is often deemed as a legal drug, and time and time again we see individuals at festivals not knowing how to use it responsibly. With the offering of medical marijuana at the festival instead, the presence of marijuana as a legal drug in California grows larger, and it is something of a test; attendees, who are taking the weekend to find new ways to heal and grow, now have the opportunity to demonstrate their ability to be responsible.
Enchanted Forest Gathering returns in less than a week; you can purchase tickets from their website.
